Hats Off Strangers! The Fedora Board Arrives

Though it has been nearly two months, it seems as though it was just a few days ago that we reported the beginning of the Fedora Project's election season. Seemingly as soon as it began it has concluded, and the newly elected to the Fedora Project Board, as well as the Ambassadors and Engineering Steering Committees, have been announced.

The structure of the Fedora Project Board, for those unfamiliar, is a little bit like Parliament. There are five members elected from the community, not unlike the Commons; four appointed by the Fedora Project Leader/Red Hat, not unlike the Peers; and the Fedora Project Leader, currently Paul Frields, appointed by Red Hat — who holds a rarely-used veto power over all decisions — not unlike the Sovereign.1 Unlike Parliament, though, the Fedora Project Board is perpetual, with staggered terms for both elected and appointed members to insure continuity.

Four seats were open in this election, two elected and two appointed. The first appointed seat was announced by the FPL on December 3, the final day of open nominations: Chris Aillon, a former Board member whose term on the Board ended this past summer, will return to the Board for a two-release term. (Board elections are not held at set intervals, but rather at the conclusion of each successful release. Members hold their seats for whatever length of time is necessary to complete two releases.) The announcement of the second appointed seat is being held over until after the holidays, to allow the FPL to take additional advice on the selection.

The election for the two remaining seats concluded on Saturday, and the results were announced yesterday morning by FPL Paul Frields. Out of a field of seven candidates, the two new elected members are Bill Nottingham and Matt Domsch, both of whom, in an interesting twist, were outgoing members — Nottingham held an appointed seat, while Domsch was previously elected. The full election results follow:

Bill Nottingham 993

Matt Domsch 962

Dimitris Glezos 816

Michael DeHaan 742

Jon Stanley 691

Josh Boyer 685

David Cantrell 574

The Board race wasn't the only contest on the ballot, however. Both the Ambassadors Steering Committee (FAmSCo) and the Engineering Steering Committee (FESCo) also had seats up for grabs — the Localization Steering Committee was also originally scheduled to hold an election, but decided to extend the term of their current members instead.

We offer our most sincere congratulations to all the newly elected leaders, a digital round-of-applause for everyone who stood for election, and wish everyone at the Fedora Project the best of luck for the coming year.

1 Please note we're only remarking on the similarity in structure, and are not suggesting any similarity in functions. We are also, for the record, not suggesting the FPL should wear a crown, nor are we speculating what Mr. Frields might look like in said crown. We reserve the right to not be doing other things should the need arise.

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